Chapter 17

Corporations:
Introduction and
Operating Rules
Comprehensive Volume
2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

The Big Picture (slide 1 of 2)

Samantha Johnson owns Skylark Bakery.
Currently, the bakery is operated as a sole proprietorship
and generates an annual operating profit of $100,000.

In addition, the bakery earns annual dividends of

$5,000 from investing excess working capital
These stock investments typically are held for a minimum
of three to four months.

As a result of income from other business ventures

and investments, Samantha is in the 33% marginal tax
rate bracket irrespective of the bakery.

The Big Picture (slide 2 of 2)

In the past, Samantha has withdrawn $50,000
annually from the bakery
She regards this as reasonable payment for her services.

Samantha has asked you about the tax consequences

of conducting the business as a regular (C)
corporation.
Based on the given information, what would be the annual
income tax savings (or cost) of operating the bakery as a
corporation?
For purposes of this analysis, use the 2014 tax rates and ignore any
employment tax or state tax considerations.

Read the chapter and formulate your response.

Various Business Forms

Business operations can be conducted in a
number of different forms including

Sole proprietorships
Partnerships
Trusts and estates
S corporations (also called Subchapter S corps)
Regular corporations (also called C corps)
Limited liability companies

Sole Proprietorship
Not a separate taxable entity
Income reported on owners Sch. C

The Big Picture Example 1

Sole Proprietorships
Return to the facts of The Big Picture on p. 17-1.

Samantha, the sole proprietor of Skylark Bakery,

reports the $100,000 operating profit from the
business on Schedule C of her individual tax return.
Even though she withdrew only $50,000, Samantha reports
all of the $100,000 operating profit from the business on
Form 1040, where she computes taxable income for the
year.

She also reports dividend income of $5,000 on

Schedule B of Form 1040.

Partnership (slide 1 of 2)
Separate entity, but does not pay tax
Files information return (Form 1065)

Most income and expense items are

aggregated in computing the ordinary business
income (loss) of the partnership
Certain income and expense items are reported
separately to the partners
e.g., Interest and dividend income, long term
capital gain, charitable contributions and
investment expenses

Partnership (slide 2 of 2)
Partnership ordinary business income (loss)
and separately reported items are allocated to
partners according to their profit and loss
sharing ratios
Each partner receives a Schedule K1
Reports partners share of partnership ordinary business
income (loss) and separately stated items

Each partner reports these items on his or her own

tax return

S Corporation
Separate entity, only pays special taxes (e.g., built-in
gains)
Files information return Form 1120S

Similar to partnership taxation

Ordinary business income (loss) flows through to the
shareholders to be reported on their separate returns
Certain items flow through to the shareholders and retain
their separate character when reported on the shareholders
returns.

The S corporation ordinary business income (loss)

and the separately reported items are allocated to the
shareholders according to their stock ownership
interests

C Corporation
C corporations are subject to an entity-level Federal
income tax which results in what is known as a
double taxation effect.
C corporation reports its income and expenses and
computes tax on the taxable income reported on its Form
1120
Uses tax rate schedule applicable to corporations

When corporation distributes its income, the corporations

shareholders report dividend income on their own tax
returns
Thus, income that has already been taxed at the corporate level is
also taxed at the shareholder level

Dividends
Double taxation stems, in part, from the fact that
dividend distributions are not deductible by the
corporation
To alleviate some of the double taxation effect,
Congress reduced the tax rate applicable to dividend
income of individuals for years after 2002
Generally, dividends are taxed at same marginal rate
applicable to a net capital gain
Thus, individuals otherwise subject to the 10% or 15% marginal tax
rate pay 0% tax on qualified dividends received
Individuals subject to the 25, 28, 33, or 35 percent marginal tax rates
pay a 15% tax on qualified dividends
Individuals subject to the 39.6% marginal tax rate pay a 20% tax on
qualified dividends

Medicare Surtax
Beginning in 2013, 1411 imposes a 3.8% Medicare
surtax on a taxpayers net investment income in
excess of modified adjusted gross income of
$200,000 ($250,000 if married filing jointly)
Thus, for high-income taxpayers, the double taxation of
dividend income is increased by this surtax

Corporate Income Tax Rates

Nontax Issues in Selecting

Entity Form (slide 1 of 3)
Liability
Sole proprietors and some partners have unlimited
liability for claims against the entity

Capital-raising
Corporations and partnerships to a lesser extent
can raise large amounts of capital for entity
ventures

Nontax Issues in Selecting

Entity Form (slide 2 of 3)
Transferability
Corporate stock is easily sold, but partners must
approve partnership interest transfer

Continuity of life
Corporations exist indefinitely

Nontax Issues in Selecting

Entity Form (slide 3 of 3)
Centralized management
Corporate actions are governed by a board of
directors
Partnership operations may be conducted by each
partner without approval by other partners

Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

LLCs have proliferated since 1988 when IRS
ruled it would treat qualifying LLCs as
partnerships
Major nontax advantage
Allows owners to avoid unlimited liability

Major tax advantage

Allows qualifying business to be treated as a
partnership for tax purposes, thereby avoiding double
taxation associated with C corporations

Entity Classification
Prior to 1997 (slide 1 of 2)
Sometimes difficult to determine if entity will
be taxed as a corporation
If entity has a majority of corporate characteristics,
it is taxed as a corporation
Most entities have the following characteristics:
Associates
Objective to carry on business and share profits

Entity Classification
Prior to 1997 (slide 2 of 2)
If entity has a majority of the following
relevant corporate characteristics it is treated
as a corporation:

Continuity of life
Centralized management
Limited liability to owners
Free transferability of ownership interests

Entity Classification
After 1996 (slide 1 of 2)
Check-the-box Regulations
Allows taxpayer to choose tax status of entity
without regard to corporate or noncorporate
characteristics
Entities with > 1 owner can elect to be classified as
partnership or corporation
Entities with only 1 owner can elect to be
classified as sole proprietorship or as corporation

Entity Classification
After 1996 (slide 2 of 2)
Check-the-box Regulations (contd)
If no election is made, multi-owner entities treated
as partnerships, single person businesses treated as
sole proprietorships
Election is not available to:
Entities incorporated under state law, or
Entities required to be corporations under federal law
(e.g., certain publicly traded partnerships)

Comparison of Corporate and Individual

Tax Treatment (slide 1 of 3)
Similarities
Gross Income of a corporation and individual are
very similar
Includes compensation for services, income from trade
or business, gains from property, interest, dividends, etc.
Corp taxpayers are allowed fewer exclusions
Nontaxable exchange treatment is similar

Business deductions of a corporation and

individual also are very similar

Comparison of Corporate and Individual Tax

Treatment (slide 2 of 3)
Dissimilarities
Different tax rates apply
All deductions of corp are business deductions
Corp does not calculate AGI
Corp does not deduct standard deduction, itemized
deductions, or personal and dependency exemptions
Corp does not reduce casualty and theft loss by $100
statutory floor and 10% of AGI

Comparison of Corporate and Individual Tax

Treatment (slide 3 of 3)

Specific Provisions Compared

In comparing the income taxation of individuals and
corporations the following areas warrant special
discussion:

Accounting periods and methods

Capital gains and losses
Recapture of depreciation
Passive losses
Charitable contributions
Domestic production activities deduction
Net operating losses
Special deductions available only to corporations

Accounting Periods and Methods

(slide 1 of 2)

Accounting periods
Most C corporations can use calendar year or fiscal
year ending on last day of a calendar month (or 5253 week year)
S corps and Personal Service Corporations (PSC)
are limited in available year ends

Accounting Periods and Methods

(slide 2 of 2)

Accounting methods
Cash method cant be used by C corp. unless:
In farming or timber business
Qualified PSC
Ave. Annual Gross receipts $5,000,000

As a matter of administrative convenience, the IRS will

permit
Entities with ave. annual gross receipts of $1 million or less for the
most recent 3 year period to use the cash method (even if buying
and selling inventory)
Certain entities with ave. annual gross receipts greater than $1
million but not more than $10 million for the most recent 3 year
period to use the cash method

The Big Picture Example 8

Accrual Method Of Accounting And

Cash Basis Related Parties (slide 1 of 2)
Return to the facts of The Big Picture on p. 17-1.

Assume that Samantha incorporates her

business as Skylark Bakery, Inc., a calendar
year, accrual method C corporation.
Samantha, a cash method taxpayer, owns 100% of
the corporations stock at the end of 2014.

The Big Picture Example 8

Accrual Method Of Accounting And

Cash Basis Related Parties (slide 2 of 2)
On December 31, 2014, Skylark Bakery has
accrued a $10,000 bonus to Samantha.
Samantha receives the bonus in 2015 and reports it
on her 2015 tax return.

Skylark Bakery cannot claim a deduction for

the $10,000 until 2015.

Capital Gains and Losses (slide 1 of 2)

Individuals
Net capital gains subject to the following
preferential tax treatment
Net short-term gains subject to regular tax rates
Net long-term gains max tax rate 20%

Net capital losses deductible up to $3,000 with

remainder carried to future years
Carryovers do not lose their identity but remain either
long term or short term

Capital Gains and Losses (slide 2 of 2)

Corporations
No special tax rates apply to capital gains
Entire gain is included in income subject to normal
corporate tax rates

Corp cannot take a deduction for net capital losses

Capital losses can be used only to offset capital gains
Unused capital losses are carried back 3 years and
carried forward for 5 years
All carried over losses are treated as short-term

Depreciation Recapture
In general, the recapture rules under 1245 and
1250 are equally applicable to both individual and
corporate taxpayers
However, corporations may have more depreciation
recapture (ordinary income) on the disposition of 1250
property than individuals

Under 291, a corporation has additional ordinary

income equal to 20% percent of the excess of
Depreciation recapture that would arise if property was
1245 property over depreciation recapture computed
under 1250 (without regard to 291)

Passive Losses
Passive loss rules apply to:
Individuals and personal service corps
Cannot offset passive losses against active or portfolio
income

S corps and partnerships

Passive income and loss flows through to owners and
rules applied at owner level

Closely held C corps

May offset passive losses against active income, but not
portfolio income

Charitable Contributions
(slide 1 of 5)

Both corporate and noncorporate taxpayers

may deduct charitable contributions in year
paid
Exception for accrual basis corporations allows
deduction in year preceding payment if:
Authorized by the board of directors by the end of that
year, and
Paid within 2 months of year end

Charitable Contributions
(slide 2 of 5)

Amount deductible for property contributions

depends on type of property contributed
Long-term capital gain property deduction =
fair market value of property
Exception: Corp may only deduct basis if tangible
personal property contributed and not used by
charity in its exempt function

Charitable Contributions
(slide 3 of 5)

Long-term capital gain property deduction =

fair market value of property (contd)
Exception: Deduction for property contribution to
certain private nonoperating foundations is limited
to basis in property

Charitable Contributions
(slide 4 of 5)

Ordinary income property deduction = basis in

property
Exception: Basis plus 50 % of appreciation can be
deducted if inventory or research property is
contributed which is used by charity as required by
Code
Deduction is limited to twice the propertys basis

Charitable Contributions
(slide 5 of 5)

Corporate charitable contribution deduction is

limited to 10% of taxable income before:

Charitable contribution deduction,

NOL or capital loss carryback,
Dividends received deduction, and
Domestic production activities deduction

Contributions in excess of 10% limit can be

carried forward for 5 years

Domestic Production
Activities Deduction
The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004
created a new deduction based on the income
from manufacturing activities
The domestic production activities deduction is
based on the following formula:
9% Lesser of
Qualified production activities income
Taxable (or adjusted gross) income

The deduction cannot exceed 50% of an employers

W2 wages related to qualified production activities
income

Net Operating Loss

Net operating losses of corporations and individuals
may be:
Carried back two years
Unused portion carried forward 20 years

Unlike individuals, a corporation does not:

Adjust its tax loss for capital losses, since a corporation
cannot deduct net capital losses
Make adjustments for any nonbusiness deductions

A corporation is allowed to include the dividends

received deduction (discussed below) in computing
its NOL

Dividends Received Deduction

(slide 1 of 3)

If corporation owns stock in another corporation

and receives dividends, a portion of dividends may
be deducted from income:

Dividends Received Deduction

(slide 2 of 3)

The dividends received deduction is limited to a

percentage of the taxable income of a corporation
For this purpose, taxable income is computed without
regard to

The NOL deduction

The domestic production activities deduction
The dividends received deduction, and
Any capital loss carryback to the current tax year

The percentage of taxable income limitation corresponds to

the deduction percentage
However, the taxable income limitation does not apply if
the corporation has an NOL for the current taxable year

Dividends Received Deduction

(slide 3 of 3)

The following steps are useful in calculating the

dividends received deduction
1. Multiply dividends received by deduction
percentage
2. Multiply taxable income by deduction
percentage
3. Subtract 1. from taxable income
-If entity has income before DRD, but DRD creates NOL,
amount in 1. is DRD (the NOL rule)
-If DRD does not create NOL, deduction is limited to lesser
of 1. or 2.

DRD Examples

Organizational Expenditures
(slide 1 of 2)

A corporation may elect to amortize

organizational expenses over a 180-month
period beginning with the month in which the
corporation begins business
A special exception allows the corporation to
immediately expense the first $5,000 of these
costs
Phased out on a dollar-for-dollar basis when these
expenses exceed $50,000

Organizational Expenditures
(slide 2 of 2)

Organizational expenditures include the following:

Legal services incident to organization
Necessary accounting services
Expenses of temporary directors and of organizational
meetings of directors and shareholders
Fees paid to the state of incorporation

Expenditures connected with issuing or selling shares

of stock or other securities or with the transfer of
assets to a corporation do not qualify
Such expenditures reduce the amount of capital raised and
are not deductible at all

Organizational Expenditures Example

Wren Corp. incurs $53,000 of
organizational costs
Wren can expense $2,000 of this amount
[$5,000 - ($53,000 - $50,000)]
The $51,000 balance is amortized over 180
months

Start-up Expenditures
(slide 1 of 2)

Start-up expenditures include:

Various investigation expenses involved in
entering a new business
e.g., Travel, market surveys, financial audits, legal fees

Also includes operating expenses, such as rent and

payroll, that are incurred by a corporation before it
actually begins to produce any gross income

Start-up Expenditures
(slide 2 of 2)

At the election of the taxpayer, such

expenditures can be treated in the same
manner as organizational expenditures
Up to $5,000 can be immediately expensed
(subject to the dollar cap and excess-of-$50,000
phaseout)
Any remaining amounts are amortized over a
period of 180 months

Corporate Tax Formula

Gross income
Less: Deductions (except charitable, Div. Recd, NOL
carryback, STCL carryback)
Taxable income for charitable limitation
Less: Charitable contributions (< = 10% of above)
Taxable income for div. recd deduction
Less: Dividends received deduction
Taxable income before carrybacks
Less: NOL carryback and STCL carryback
TAXABLE INCOME

The Big Picture Example 26

Corporate Income Tax Liability (slide 1 of 2)

Return to the facts of The Big Picture on p. 17-1.

Assume that Samantha incorporates her business as

Skylark Bakery, Inc., a calendar year C corporation.
The corporation pays Samantha a salary of $50,000 for the
year.

For 2014, Skylark Bakery has taxable income of

$51,500.
[$100,000 operating profit + $5,000 dividends - $50,000
salary expense $3,500 dividends received deduction
($5,000 X 70%)].

The Big Picture Example 26

Corporate Income Tax Liability (slide 2 of 2)

Its income tax liability is $7,875, determined
as follows:
Tax on $50,000 at 15%
Tax on $1,500 at 25%
Tax liability

$7,500
375
$7,875

Alternative Minimum Tax

Corporations are subject to an alternative
minimum tax (AMT) that is similar to the
AMT applicable to individuals
Many of the adjustments and tax preference items
are the same for individuals and corporations
The AMT rate and exemption amount for
corporations are different from those applicable to
individuals

Tax Liability of Related Corporations

Subject to special rules for computing income
tax, the accumulated earnings credit, and the
AMT exemption
e.g., Limits controlled groups taxable income in
tax brackets below 35% to amount corporations in
group would have if they were one corporation

Controlled group includes:

Parent-subsidiary groups
Brother-sister groups
Combined groups

Corporate Filing Requirements

(slide 1 of 2)

Must file Form 1120 on or before the 15th day

of 3rd month following close of tax year even
if it has no taxable income
Automatic 6 month extensions are available by
filing Form 7004

Corporate Filing Requirements

(slide 2 of 2)

Must make estimated tax payments equal to

lesser of:
100% of corporations tax for the current year, or
100% of tax for preceding year

No estimated tax payments required if tax

liability expected to be less than $500

Schedule M-1
Corporations must reconcile financial
accounting income with taxable income on
Sch M-1, Form 1120
Common reconciling items include:
Federal income tax per books
Net capital losses
Income reported for tax but not book income (e.g.,
prepaid income) and vice versa
Expenses deducted for book income but not tax (e.g.,
excess charitable contributions) and vice versa

Schedule M-2
Corporations must reconcile retained earnings
at beginning of year with retained earnings at
end of year using Sch M-2, Form 1120
Schedule L (balance sheet), Schedules M1 and
M2 of Form 1120 are not required for
corporations with less than $250,000 of gross
receipts and less than $250,000 in assets

Schedule M-3
Corporate taxpayers with total assets of $10 million
or more are now required to report much greater
detail regarding differences in financial accounting
income (loss) and taxable income (loss)
Reported on Schedule M3

Schedule M3 should
Create greater transparency between corporate financial
statements and tax returns
Help the IRS identify corporations that engage in
aggressive tax practices

Consolidated Returns
Corporations that are members of a parentsubsidiary affiliated group may be able to file
a consolidated income tax return for a taxable
year

Refocus On The Big Picture (slide 1 of 5)

Conducting Skylark Bakery as a corporation would
save Samantha $9,375 in income taxes annually,
computed as follows:
Bakery Operated as Sole Proprietorship
Operating profit of $100,000:
Tax on $100,000 @ 33%
Dividends of $5,000:
Tax on $5,000 @ 15%
Withdrawals of $50,000:
No tax
Total income tax when operated as sole
proprietorship

$33,000
750
0
$33,750

Refocus On The Big Picture (slide 2 of 5)

Tax - Bakery Operated as Regular Corporation
Corporate taxable income
$51,500
Tax on $50,000 @ 15%
Tax on $1,500 @ 25%
Total corporate income tax
Samanthas salary of $50,000:
Tax on $50,000 @ 33%
Total income tax when operated as
C corporation

$ 7,500
375
$ 7,875
16,500
$ 24,375

Refocus On The Big Picture (slide 3 of 5)

Computation of corporate taxable income:
Operating profit
$100,000
Dividends
5,000
Less: Salary to Samantha
(50,000)
Dividends recd deduction (70%)
(3,500)
Taxable income
$ 51,500

Refocus On The Big Picture (slide 4 of 5)

The example illustrates the tax savings available
when a high-income individual takes advantage of the
lower marginal tax rates of C corporations.
However, other issues also should be considered,
such as
Employment tax considerations, and
Taxation of dividend distributions (income and Medicare
surtax)

Further, other potential entity options, such as the

LLC and S corporation, also should be evaluated.

Refocus On The Big Picture (slide 5 of 5)

What if the bakery becomes a corporation and
generates a $10,000 short-term capital loss (STCL)?
Regular corporations can only deduct capital losses against
capital gains.
Thus, the $10,000 STCL would not be deductible currently by the
corporation
Instead, it would be carried forward for up to 5 years.

If the bakery is operated as a sole proprietorship, Samantha

would report the capital loss on her individual return.
She could use the $10,000 STCL to offset any capital gains she
may have, and deduct up to $3,000 of the loss against ordinary
income.

If you have any comments or suggestions concerning this

PowerPoint Presentation for South-Western Federal
Taxation, please contact:
Dr. Donald R. Trippeer, CPA
trippedr@oneonta.edu
SUNY Oneonta

2015 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.

66